Symptoms of Dry Eye
When most people think about having dry eyes, they mainly think about the common symptoms that cause discomfort such as dryness, grittiness or burning, and do not realize that in order to have normal vision, it is critical to have a sufficient quantity of healthy tears on the surface of the eye at all times.
Dry Eye is a condition in which there is a deficiency of the tear film that is due to either an insufficient production of natural tears or an excessive evaporation of tears. Systemic conditions such as Sjorgren’s Syndrome or autoimmune connective tissue diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus Erythematosus, inflammation of the Lacrimal Gland, long term contact lens wear, past eye infections, medications such as antihistamines or allergy medicine, blood pressure medicine, certain allergies and even vitamin deficiencies may decrease the quantity of tears that are produced. The tears may evaporate too quickly if you suffer from low-grade eyelid inflammation, called blepharitis, which is often caused by Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD), a problem within the glands in your eyelids. Hormonal changes make perimenopausal women particularly susceptible to dry eyes. Whether you suffer from insufficient production of tears or excessive evaporation of tears, or both, you may experience a decrease in the quantity and quality of your tear film resulting in the surface of the eye being affected.
Diagnosis of Dry Eye Problems
Diagnosis and treatment of dry eye problems requires a careful eye exam. We will thoroughly review your medical history, eye history and eye conditions including any medications that you are taking. Please be sure to tell us about all of the medications you take or have taken recently, including not only the ones prescribed, but those that may have been purchased on your own. We will use microscopic techniques to assess the dry eye. Based on the findings, we will be able to make a proper diagnosis as to the particular cause of the dry eye syndrome and prescribe the necessary tear substitutes, eye drops and/or other options to help restore your tear film back to normal and make you more comfortable.
Treatment of Dry Eye Problems
If you have mild or even moderate dry eyes, the first course of treatment may be to use specific types of artificial tears that have different characteristics in terms of content and viscosity. There may some environmental factors that can be altered to make you more comfortable such as how and where you are exposed to heat ducts or fans blowing as well as attempting to keep the areas that you spend a great deal of time in at a proper humidity level. Sometimes, if the oil layer of the tear film is deficient, we may suggest that you increase your consumption of oily fish or even take flax seed oil or other diet supplements.
In instances where these approaches do not help relieve your dry eye symptoms, we may suggest the insertion of tiny punctal plugs that will slow down or even stop the drainage of tears from the eye. These plugs are easily and comfortably placed in the lacrimal puncta in your eyelids. For patients with moderate to severe dry eyes, other prescribed treatments may be recommended.
As you can see, the diagnosis and treatment of dry eyes is complex and requires patience and persistence on the part of the doctor and the patient. With careful diagnosis and a systematic therapeutic approach, we can usually help dry eye sufferers.
If you or a family member or friend suffers from dry eyes and would like help for dry eye symptoms please take a moment to request an appointment by calling Center for Sight in Fall River, Massachusetts at 508-730-2020.
